Bitcoin mining weakens war on climate change

Nov 01, 2018, 8:04 AM EDT

(Source: QuoteInspector/flickr)

This week Bitcoin turned 10 defying the wisdom of many technologists, who had written off the very idea of cryptocurrency in its nascency. No denying, it’s a big achievement for the technology but it comes at a cost for the planet, already baking with greenhouse gases.

Bitcoin mining is a power-guzzling process that consumes massive amounts of electricity produced from fossil fuels, eventually releasing millions of metric tons of carbon emissions in the atmosphere and offsetting all the actions in place to lower our carbon footprints, notes Digital Trends.

The impact of bitcoin mining on global climate isn’t a conjecture but a probable reality as confirmed by many studies, including the latest research at University of Hawaii at Manoa, which warns that rise in bitcoin transactions could boost global warming to 2C in just two decades, reports The Independent.